Ever wondered what some of those Tolkien-inspired video games were like? Join Fili and Kili to sample them. WARNING: This video was filmed by professionals. You should not attempt to anger your sister in Elf Mode at home without another Elf being present.

I stumbled on this a little while back… and thought it quite cool… and then forgot about it. So before I forget again, check out this Lego “My Own Creation” of the entire Company of Thorin Oakenshield.

It’s the work of Pate-keetongu, a Finnish LEGO enthusiast who builds mostly Bionicle, castle and steampunks MOCs. (more…)

The final Lego sets for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies have been out for a little while now, so I thought it might be a good time to put them all in one place for folks to look over. Plus I wanted to indulge in a little speculation.

Two stand-outs in this set, I think. The first is, of course, the Dain mini-fig, which TORn staffer MrCere discussed just the other week. The second is the actual location: it’s the titular battle, yet it’s sited firmly within Dale in this playset.

Yet, Peter Jackson’s draft battlemap depicts a much more widespread conflict that encompasses not just Dale, but the entire mountain of Erebor and its surrounds, with forces approaching from all directions. I continue to wonder whether the ruins of Dale will form some early, yet significant, skirmish, with a larger, climactic battle involving Beorn and Bolg on the plains in front of the front gate of Erebor itself. Also, despite the inclusion of the ballista, it doesn’t contain any of the large troll-like monsters we’ve seen in recent artwork.

This is a strange one: it really feels like a leftover from The Desolation of Smaug. I mean, Smaug is there and it features the mine/rail car set that was a big set-piece toward the climax of the film. Yet Fili and Kili — who stayed in Lake-town — are there. Maybe the Fili and Kili plotline came after Lego locked in this set? I dunno, it seems to defy logic that Smaug would re-enter Erebor in the final film: he’s off to a hot date with Bard and the Black Arrow (ballista bolt?)

Lego Witch-king Battle set

Official artwork has thus far paired Galadriel and Gandalf, and Elrond and Saruman. This set suggests something different.

I wonder whether this playset is an indication that there’s going to be a confrontation between Galadriel, Elrond and the Witch-king as a prelude to freeing Gandalf. Will the two elves arrive first, and take care of the Witch-king and free Gandalf before running into trouble against Sauron? Will Saruman then catch up with the trio and save the day?

The other thing to note is Galadriel’s possession of the Phial — also absent from the official artwork. Its light (that of the Silmaril the Earendil carries) could be potent in repelling the Witch-king.

Finally, there’s the Attack on Lake-town playset. This features a couple of Gundabad Orcs as the antagonists. In the film, Bolg lead the previous attack on Lake-town, searching specifically for Thorin Oakenshield. He called the infiltration off when the orcs discovered he had gone. So, why would they attack it again? What, or whom, do they seek?

Does it have some relevance to Thrain’s revelation in the DOS: EE that “They are in league — the dragon and the one!”? If so, will Bolg’s underlings act at Smaug’s behest to attack Lake-town in tandem with his own assault? That could be why we see the Windlance in this set. Definitely raises lots of questions.

Ringer Peter writes to tell us of a push on the website Lego Ideas to get the toymaker to develop and produce an LOTR Minas Tirith set.

Lego Ideas is an initiative by the Lego company that allows fans and collectors to propose ideas for sets, and if they gather sufficient support, have them evaluated by a review board for their commercial potential. (more…)

Some of the coolest things you’ll see at Comic-Con are the Lego built characters either at their booth, other booths, and even outside of the convention center itself.

This year if you happen to make it to the Warner Bros. booth (#4545) you will get to see a Lego Smaug standing over six feet tall and weighing 411 pounds. Smaug took 625 hours to complete and includes 83,433 pieces. The folks at Lego also have some surprises for fans showing off new sets for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as well as an exclusive Bard figure. (more…)

Here, Luke Evans chats with IGN about The Hobbit while playing the new Lego Hobbit video game as his own character — Bard. IGN does make it awful hard by firing questions at him about the films and his character while he’s playing! (more…)

The games allows players to adventure within key locations from the (first two) of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films, including Lake-town, Dale, Erebor, Bag End, Goblin-town, Mirkwood, Rivendell and the High Pass over the Misty Mountains. From the product blurb:

Fans will assume the roles of their favorite characters, including Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and the Dwarves of Erebor: Thorin, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, Glóin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori, each possessing a unique and hilarious ability. One of the main new features of the game allows players to utilize the Dwarves’ combined abilities such as buddy fighting, two-player attack, staff climb, mace swing and belly bounce to help them fight Orcs and fouler things or to progress through the game. (more…)

Here’s a funky new trailer for the Lego video game for The Hobbit, done in the style of Ocean’s Eleven. Pretty neat. It does seem to emphasise the teamwork element of the game, something that IGN’s reviewer of the just-released playable demo wrote about approvingly just the other day:

Already in this small section of Goblin Town, buddy-up was used in a handful of ways, and and considering Thorin, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori all have different ways of interacting with the environment and one another, I’m excited to see how else the mechanic will play out.

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